Tideland
Release Date:
October 13, 2006
Limited release
Visionary director Terry Gilliam brings to the screen a tale of a young girl left to her own devices who deals with the world as best she can.
Tideland tells the story of Jeliza-Rose, whose mother has died from a drug overdose and whose father, a former rockabilly guitarist, withdraws from life and from his daughter in the aftermath of his wife’s tragic death. Moved by her father to her mother’s childhood home in the country, Jeliza-Rose makes the world over into a fantasyland where bodiless Barbie doll heads talk, fireflies have proper names, bog-men prowl the land at dusk, sharks swim along the railroad tracks, and something is making awful noises in the attic. Besides the creatures that inhabit her fantasy world, Jeliza-Rose has found a human friend to keep her company, a neighbor woman called Dell who lives her life shrouded behind a beekeeper’s veil. Tideland is a story of loss and survival, of using fantasy to make sense of an often-too-harsh world, of keeping hold of the best of childhood whilst still learning to deal with the trials that life presents on the path to the future. Brought to life by Terry Gilliam, a director who has shown an amazing ability to blend fantasy and reality in equal measures to create a film world that both entrances and delves into the deeper emotions that exist at the heart of the best movies. Gilliam has consistently been able to exist outside the sometimes too-restrictive Hollywood studio system and keep his film visions pure, and whether you love or hate Gilliam - and there doesn’t seem to be any between-ground in opinion - it is difficult to deny that Gilliam is a filmmaker of rare insight and commitment to his filmic themes. Tideland promises to be yet another ripping great yarn from this distinctive auteur, and is definitely a project to keep on the radar for all those who enjoy unique movies that eschew the cookie-cutter, safe Hollywood path for the cinematic road less traveled. (Stephanie Star Smith/BOP)
|
|
|
|